It's been over a year since I've been in the game, so I'm not up to date on its current status. Feel free to correct me if I'm way off base in anything I'm saying! I'm going solely based on the comments I'm reading here.
Being a game with no over-arching plot, DDD has always been loosely run and thrives mostly on what its players put into it. The game's obviously hit a dry spell, though. So what's causing it? Someone mentioned there weren't enough canon updates, while others said canon updates are virtually the only posts that get made in the community lately. Neither side sounds like the root of the problem. When I was here, there were always posts about canon updates. I think what could have made it different then was how those canon updates affected the rest of the comm.
So my first question is: HAVE any of those canon updates affected the rest of the comm? One thing I always loved about DDD was how the goings-on in one world affected others. With the paranoia surrounding anon memes and negative crit, I wouldn't be surprised if people were afraid to alter their canons to fit with the multi-dimensional "theme" of the game. If that's the case, I'm sad to hear it, although I do understand. But the thing is... that sort of canon tweaking has always been the heart of DDD. It's not a jamjar. Characters can't exist in a vacuum outside of their canon, so the players have to be willing to allow the game to affect not only their characters but their characters' worlds. The same goes for the opposite.
For example, when we had a sizable D.Gray-man cast, the players came up with the idea that world-hopping from the Ark left open rifts, allowing Akuma (demons) to invade other worlds. It wasn't necessarily a game-wide plot. Those who wanted to join in and have their characters react to their worlds being invaded were welcome (and encouraged!) to do so while the D.Gray-man cast did damage control. It offered a lot of CR opportunity, as Tyki and Cross went to each affected world and killed off the invading Akuma.
It doesn't have to be anything grand like that. Another example (already mentioned, I see) was when Phoenix and Edgeworth tried to create a community justice system. We drew from the canon and their personalities for inspiration. It didn't end up working out (the mechanics would have been too complicated), but that was okay, because it was interesting to deal with the fact that it failed. We also had them conduct a trial on their own world when one of their community friends ended up committing a crime there.
So maybe think about your canons. Think about how your canons can affect other worlds. Think about how other canons can affect YOUR characters' worlds. Don't be afraid to tweak your canon slightly to involve the community when you want your character to go through an update. It might be intimidating, but the results are so rewarding.
If that's not the issue, then allow me to hit on some other points. DDD hasn't been without its bumps in the past, after all! One thing I remember was viruses starting to feel stale. The way we dealt with that was temporarily randomize when viruses happened--I think we might have stopped them for a while altogether. We also discussed briefly taking it out of the players' hands and having "surprise" viruses that the mods kept under wraps until a few days before it would start. There were also events that encouraged group activities, like the Oregon Trail "virus" and the Jurassic Park event, not to mention player-run events like birthday parties, dances (some of which were dances that took place in characters' canons, like the ball from Enchanted, once again tweaking plot to work with the game's theme), beach parties, random Disneyland trips...
Do these things still happen?
There's also NPCs, like someone mentioned above. They weren't always a huge presence in DDD, but they did offer some excitement, on both an individual player and a community-wide level. I remember the time SHODAN caused everyone's computers to become infected with ACTUAL viruses. There were the Weeping Angels, who would comment randomly on characters' posts and shoot said characters back to a random point in history, should the player so choose. It doesn't have to be those same old NPCs, though. Maybe something different, to spice things up? Even a one-off NPC that never shows up again... Didn't Jack Skellington sometimes show up around Halloween and/or Christmas to deliver gifts?
I'd also like to touch on the medium divide. Let me first say I think the concept is absolutely ridiculous, and I'm proud to remember cross-medium CR flourishing in this game. The divide never seemed to exist here. That being said, it does look like the scale has tipped in the animated direction recently. There's nothing wrong with that. People should always play what characters they want to play, regardless of medium. However, I think it can sometimes seem intimidating to outsiders when one medium dominates, especially with the divide being such a hot button issue on the anon memes. If that's the case, I think the question would then be how do we encourage more medium diversity in the game? I don't have a good answer for that, unfortunately, but I think it is important to consider.
Here's a thought: when was the last fourth wall event? If it's due to come around again, maybe it would help to try to somehow make it inviting for a wide array of characters instead of the free-for-all it usually is. What if, each day, there was a theme? I can't say for sure it's a good suggestion or that it will inspire new blood to join in, but it is a thought. Otherwise, ATP is really the only venue DDD has to advertise, and chances are most people use that to find more castmates. Which is one of its purposes, of course, but it doesn't help bring in variety.
Anyway, those are the thoughts of a DDD oldbie who hasn't been in the game scene for quite some time and doesn't know the exact state of this particular RP, but I figured it couldn't hurt to throw my two cents in. Again, feel free to correct me if I'm off the mark!
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Being a game with no over-arching plot, DDD has always been loosely run and thrives mostly on what its players put into it. The game's obviously hit a dry spell, though. So what's causing it? Someone mentioned there weren't enough canon updates, while others said canon updates are virtually the only posts that get made in the community lately. Neither side sounds like the root of the problem. When I was here, there were always posts about canon updates. I think what could have made it different then was how those canon updates affected the rest of the comm.
So my first question is: HAVE any of those canon updates affected the rest of the comm? One thing I always loved about DDD was how the goings-on in one world affected others. With the paranoia surrounding anon memes and negative crit, I wouldn't be surprised if people were afraid to alter their canons to fit with the multi-dimensional "theme" of the game. If that's the case, I'm sad to hear it, although I do understand. But the thing is... that sort of canon tweaking has always been the heart of DDD. It's not a jamjar. Characters can't exist in a vacuum outside of their canon, so the players have to be willing to allow the game to affect not only their characters but their characters' worlds. The same goes for the opposite.
For example, when we had a sizable D.Gray-man cast, the players came up with the idea that world-hopping from the Ark left open rifts, allowing Akuma (demons) to invade other worlds. It wasn't necessarily a game-wide plot. Those who wanted to join in and have their characters react to their worlds being invaded were welcome (and encouraged!) to do so while the D.Gray-man cast did damage control. It offered a lot of CR opportunity, as Tyki and Cross went to each affected world and killed off the invading Akuma.
It doesn't have to be anything grand like that. Another example (already mentioned, I see) was when Phoenix and Edgeworth tried to create a community justice system. We drew from the canon and their personalities for inspiration. It didn't end up working out (the mechanics would have been too complicated), but that was okay, because it was interesting to deal with the fact that it failed. We also had them conduct a trial on their own world when one of their community friends ended up committing a crime there.
So maybe think about your canons. Think about how your canons can affect other worlds. Think about how other canons can affect YOUR characters' worlds. Don't be afraid to tweak your canon slightly to involve the community when you want your character to go through an update. It might be intimidating, but the results are so rewarding.
If that's not the issue, then allow me to hit on some other points. DDD hasn't been without its bumps in the past, after all! One thing I remember was viruses starting to feel stale. The way we dealt with that was temporarily randomize when viruses happened--I think we might have stopped them for a while altogether. We also discussed briefly taking it out of the players' hands and having "surprise" viruses that the mods kept under wraps until a few days before it would start. There were also events that encouraged group activities, like the Oregon Trail "virus" and the Jurassic Park event, not to mention player-run events like birthday parties, dances (some of which were dances that took place in characters' canons, like the ball from Enchanted, once again tweaking plot to work with the game's theme), beach parties, random Disneyland trips...
Do these things still happen?
There's also NPCs, like someone mentioned above. They weren't always a huge presence in DDD, but they did offer some excitement, on both an individual player and a community-wide level. I remember the time SHODAN caused everyone's computers to become infected with ACTUAL viruses. There were the Weeping Angels, who would comment randomly on characters' posts and shoot said characters back to a random point in history, should the player so choose. It doesn't have to be those same old NPCs, though. Maybe something different, to spice things up? Even a one-off NPC that never shows up again... Didn't Jack Skellington sometimes show up around Halloween and/or Christmas to deliver gifts?
I'd also like to touch on the medium divide. Let me first say I think the concept is absolutely ridiculous, and I'm proud to remember cross-medium CR flourishing in this game. The divide never seemed to exist here. That being said, it does look like the scale has tipped in the animated direction recently. There's nothing wrong with that. People should always play what characters they want to play, regardless of medium. However, I think it can sometimes seem intimidating to outsiders when one medium dominates, especially with the divide being such a hot button issue on the anon memes. If that's the case, I think the question would then be how do we encourage more medium diversity in the game? I don't have a good answer for that, unfortunately, but I think it is important to consider.
Here's a thought: when was the last fourth wall event? If it's due to come around again, maybe it would help to try to somehow make it inviting for a wide array of characters instead of the free-for-all it usually is. What if, each day, there was a theme? I can't say for sure it's a good suggestion or that it will inspire new blood to join in, but it is a thought. Otherwise, ATP is really the only venue DDD has to advertise, and chances are most people use that to find more castmates. Which is one of its purposes, of course, but it doesn't help bring in variety.
Anyway, those are the thoughts of a DDD oldbie who hasn't been in the game scene for quite some time and doesn't know the exact state of this particular RP, but I figured it couldn't hurt to throw my two cents in. Again, feel free to correct me if I'm off the mark!